A Car Trip To The Hospital: A Ready Made Mobile Classroom.

There will be plenty of families like us facing the battle and balance of keeping up schooling whilst dealing with long term health problems which involve repeat visits/stays in hospital. Two of my children require frequent hospital attention and the challenge then arises to make sure their education does not get forgotten in the world of needles, operations and doctors. 

Over the years I have used the car as a mobile teaching portal. We are in there for an hour and a half at least every hospital visit, and playing fun games helps settle the nerves and helps the time pass for us all. 

Car/bus/train games are surprisingly educational once you start getting into the spirit of them. They provide a moving landscape full of pockets of information across all topics. 'I spy with my little eye' is a classic which teaches young children vocabulary linking the alphabet and phonics, teaching observational and concentration skills. 

Science can be covered in the weather report, and the conditions needed to create the current weather. Colours, shapes, and features of the natural world and cities are just there waiting to be discussed. Keeping a tally of coloured vehicles can be utilised at a later date with a maths lesson of charts and comparisons. 

Our children's health condition is a common topic with us. We talk about healthy bodies and what isn't working correctly in their bodies (the doctors are always amazed to hear my children talk about platelets in great detail). It is their body at the end of the day and their life long health condition. They know something is wrong from a young age as the hospital becomes their second home and the staff an extension to family friends, so I do not shelter them from the subject. We use the time before the appointment and car rides to embrace this knowledge and own it. 

Transportation is an easy subject to cover, from models and colours of vehicles and the rules of the road with traffic lights. Hearing my three year old tell their driver instructor grandfather what to do at the traffic lights never gets old. As they get older you can discuss the mechanics of the vehicles, and discuss the roles each mode of transportation has, including fire engine, ambulance, and police car. This opportunity then can be revisited at a later date once at home or in hospital where they can draw or paint the vehicles they have seen, create traffic lights etc. 

Sophia uses drawing as part of her processing mechanism, to covey her thoughts and feelings. Currently her pictures cover a great deal of mummy and Sophia, pictures with happiness, love and rainbows flowing from them. However this is not always the case, from an early age hospitals featured heavily in her drawings, with depictions of the car with three of us inside driving from our house to the hospital. Her role play used to also feature hospital scenarios, with her acting as a doctor treating her siblings and stuffed animals. This is educational as well as theaputic.

Audio books (or nursery rhymes) are always an option in the car too, you can have a verbal comprehension lesson on stories heard or just enjoy being still, sharing a book as a family. An alternative follow up lesson could be a book report on what they heard in the car. The radio for older children can be used as an educational tool, discussing genres and eras of music, or listening to the news and discussing local and world events. 

Here we are dear viewers, a few ideas to mull over for any long car/bus/train ride to be honest, not just to the hospital. It is fun, flexible, lots of options across the ages, especially for those who may get travel sick if they look at a book, tablet or phone in the car as my family does. Distraction is very helpful and if it can be educational too, even better. Learning doesn't stop at home or is confined, it freely roams along with you.